FROM MEDITATOR.ORG

'Posture'

As one
meditates one soon becomes aware of a continuous interplaybetween the outer posture of the body and the inner posture of
themeditator within.

The inner
posture is like an attitude that one holds onto whilstmeditating and it is produced by the type of effort that one uses
tomeditate.So for example if one’s inner posture is too rigid , maybe trying
toohard to grasp at the object of meditation then the object
ofmeditation seems to ‘run away’ from the meditator. The inner
attitudehere is too forceful and the body’s muscles might tighten as a
resultof such mental strain.Also if one's inner attitude is too lax, unenthusiastic orinattentive of the meditation then one is easily overcome by
one'sown thoughts, memories or fantasies.Both of these above extremes often deplete one's energetic
resourcesand as a result the necessary attention needed to be able to
meditatewanes and sleep eventually takes over.

Even though it
may seem almost impossible at first, with patience andthe right effort one finds eventually some meditation sessions
whenthe inner posture is 'just right', when suddenly all of the
body'senergies appear to rise up and suddenly it is as if the
keenmeditator and his object of meditation are 'in their proper
andnatural places'.

This is a sign
that a dynamic balance has been reached where thepractitioner’s body / mind, his inner efforts and the object
ofmeditation are all working together harmoniously. If this
newcondition is maintained then one can extend awareness
almostindefinitely.‘Good’ meditation sessions are probably not chance incidents but
theresult of long term effort meditating earnestly. They depend on
whathas gone on before in previous
sessions.

Our inner
attitude whilst meditating is also directly linked to themany preconceived ideas that we hold about our bodies and minds.
Ifwe are easily moved by feelings of disgust or self
congratulationthen our meditation will suffer. Beliefs are for the most
partconditioned by our cultural and family background. They were
probablyonce accepted unquestionably but are often
erroneous and outdated tobe useful now and so should be
re-examined in the light of our ownpresent
experiences.In some forms of meditation the 'inner posture' is
worked upon bythe body adopting either static physical postures or
executingparticular movements or dances. In this way the mind-body complex
canreach formless worlds.

It has been
said that the 'body is the mirror of the mind'.Ultimately we are neither our body nor our mind yet we must know
howto use both efficiently in order to meditate over a
sustained periodof time.

At the end of our meditation sessions, using perhaps the calm
stateof mind that meditation often produces, it is worth asking
oneselffrequently the time honoured question:"who or what am I really?".This type of inner question can foster courage and the
forbearance toperceive oneself as one really is and so as a result of this
practiceone’s inner attitude when one meditates may probably become more
opentoo.

The good news
is that with regular meditation practice one learns howone learns.As if we were a juggler we can play with some of the elements
thatmake up who we are and this is a joyful activity.While we are alive we can work to enhance awareness and that is
astep towards real freedom